By Zephyria 
Jо Wоn hung up the рhone, аsking him tо kеер it а secrеt thаt hе was the оne who had rеaсhed оut. Hе seеmеd wоrried that thе fallоut might splash ontо him, but Woo-yеon didn’t even hаve thе еnergy to carе. He simplу lеft аnоthеr messagе in the grоuр chat, рrеtending not to know, stаting that thе РPT hаd nоt аrrivеd уet. А fеeling оf suffocation rose tо his throat, but thеre was nоthing he could dо othеr than keер doing what hе was doing.
Аnd so, tоdаy саme. Still, nо оne hаd соntactеd him. Еven Jо Wоn, whо hаd called Woo-yeon, remained silent as if his part was done. Watching the numbers disappear quietly from the chat room, Woo-yeon once again felt the terror of silence.
‘Did I sell out my country in a past life?’
Thinking this, Woo-yeon turned the doorknob of the club room. He worried it might be locked, but fortunately, there was no resistance. Assuming Ga-ram had arrived a bit early, Woo-yeon flung the door open.
“…….”
“…….”
Their eyes met instantly. Startled, Woo-yeon froze in place. The other person, who seemed to have just arrived and was about to open the window, looked at Woo-yeon with a puzzled expression.
“Why are you here so early?”
Looking at those gently sloping eyes, Woo-yeon corrected the thought he had just had. In fact, he hadn’t sold out his country; he must have saved it. Otherwise, there was no way Do-hyun would appear before his eyes at such a miraculous timing.
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing that Woo-yeon wasn’t answering, Do-hyun slowly approached him. Perhaps because his expression was strange, a look of concern appeared in Do-hyun’s eyes. Woo-yeon, whose face was awkwardly contorted, spoke haltingly.
“……Aren’t you on a free period?”
As far as Woo-yeon knew, Do-hyun had free periods on Mondays and Tuesdays. Since he had no classes, there was no reason for him to be in the club room this early. Moreover, at such a perfectly timed moment, as if they had coordinated.
“I had something to submit regarding the club.”
Do-hyun answered nonchalantly and leaned forward slightly. As he looked into Woo-yeon’s face to match their eye levels, Woo-yeon felt as if the inside of his mouth was turning sweet. In that position, Do-hyun narrowed his eyes and spoke in a soft, calm voice.
“You must be tired. Your eyes are bloodshot.”
Woo-yeon reflexively took a step back. As he rubbed the corners of his eyes with his fingertips, he felt a sharp sting. He knew his complexion looked poor when he looked in the mirror this morning, but he didn’t realize it was still that bad.
“Ah, I spent too long looking at my laptop.”
“Laptop?”
“Because of a group project.”
Do-hyun’s double-lidded eyes twitched in a frown. Then, turning his back to Woo-yeon, he approached the window again. As he opened the window, a cool breeze rushed in.
“Preparing for the presentation?”
“Yes, well……”
Woo-yeon answered vaguely and stepped further inside. While the spring breeze entered from outside, the pheromones carried by the wind were as clear as autumn. Every time the dry pheromones seeped in and lingered around him, it felt as if his stomach was burning hot.
“Then you should have slept more. Why did you come so early? You don’t have Monday classes either.”
“I couldn’t sleep…… and I couldn’t concentrate at home.”
Trying his best to act natural, he sat on the sofa and rummaged through his bag. As he took out his laptop and wireless mouse, Do-hyun had already approached his side. Woo-yeon gasped as the pheromones suddenly closed in on him.
“Open the PPT. I’ll give you some feedback.”
With the back of his neck stiff, Woo-yeon moved the mouse. As he plugged in the USB and opened the file, Do-hyun looked down and focused on the screen. As if all his nerves were centered on Do-hyun, his five senses were taut with tension.
“……Should I move to the next slide?”
“You can.”
“…….”
“Hmm…… next.”
The surroundings were so quiet that it felt like the sound of his breathing could be heard. The clicking sound of the mouse, the sound of him saying ‘next,’ and the occasional rustle of clothes brushing against each other. His senses, sharpened enough to make his fine hairs stand on end, received all of it sensitively.
“You did well.”
Do-hyun gave a short compliment and took the mouse. After scanning through from beginning to end once more, he spoke without even looking at Woo-yeon.
“What about the script?”
“Here.”
Woo-yeon took a notebook from his bag and opened it to a specific section. It was the rough outline of the presentation he had drafted after making the PPT. Looking at the English written in elegant cursive, Do-hyun nodded.
“This is well-written too. How many minutes is the presentation?”
“Five minutes.”
“Did you try it with a timer?”
“No, I haven’t tried that yet.”
Thump, thump. The sound of his heart beating was loud. He wanted to press his palm against his chest, but he couldn’t as long as Do-hyun was there. He hoped the sound wouldn’t reach him, but Do-hyun leisurely flipped through the notebook.
“Right…… everything is good, but,”
The voice, with its trailing end, was attractive enough to send a shiver down his spine. He never knew that a languid and gentle voice could feel this erotic. While Woo-yeon swallowed hard, Do-hyun tilted his head to the side.
“Why are you doing this alone?”
“…….”
Dark pupils gazed intently at Woo-yeon. Those attractive, flawless eyes seemed to have hardened somewhat.
Woo-yeon blinked, feeling his mind go blank. It was clearly a simple question, but for some reason, it was difficult to answer. If he answered that he did it alone because of certain circumstances, he felt Do-hyun would see him as stupid.
An inexplicable silence stretched on. Do-hyun didn’t press him, but Woo-yeon felt himself becoming increasingly anxious. Seeing Woo-yeon slowly lower his head, Do-hyun lightly broke the silence.
“Usually…… there are a few things professors nominally want when they assign team projects.”
Woo-yeon looked up at Do-hyun again. He was now looking at the laptop screen instead of Woo-yeon.
“Leadership, cooperation, things like that.”
Those were indeed elements included in the evaluation criteria the professor had mentioned. Everyone, including Woo-yeon, probably thought it was bullshit. Do-hyun seemed to feel the same, as he let out a hollow chuckle.
“It’s not that they actually expect you to achieve those things.”
A straight finger tapped the laptop. Woo-yeon reflexively looked at the screen, then turned his eyes back to Do-hyun.
“When assignments of the same quality are submitted, the group where all five members participated gets a higher score.”
“…….”
“I’ve heard this before, but in this professor’s case, no matter how well you do this, it’s only about a C+ at best.”
Woo-yeon’s face immediately soured. It wasn’t that he wanted to do it alone. With Jun-seong acting like that and the other members remaining silent, what else was he supposed to do?
“The point of my story is,”
Do-hyun touched the laptop again. Looking at the dissatisfied Woo-yeon, he laughed softly. Then, pointing to the part where it said ‘Group 1: Seon Woo-yeon,’ he spoke gently.
“If you’re going to remove names, only remove one.”
Woo-yeon thought that Do-hyun might have noticed everything. The fact that he didn’t force an answer, the way he continued the conversation kindly, and the way he was looking at him now. Perhaps all of this was just a setup for this one sentence.
“Who do you want to remove?”
Smiling askew, Do-hyun narrowed his eyes. His left eye, with its thin double eyelid, winked leisurely.
“That yellow-haired guy from before?”
As if possessed, Woo-yeon told Do-hyun everything. He didn’t tell him everything about the incident with Jun-seong, but he explained what Do-hyun had seen at the cafe and the process of the current situation. Do-hyun blinked silently, and when the story ended, he responded lightly.
“I guess he doesn’t want to attend college.”
It was an incredibly soft voice, but Woo-yeon felt that he was angry. His face, which had turned expressionless, looked as if he were contemplating something. Do-hyun let out a short hum and curled his lips into a long smile.
“Let’s do this.”
* * *
For the next two days, they met in the club room whenever they had a gap. Sometimes it was just the two of them, sometimes Ga-ram was there, and sometimes all four, including Seon-kyu. In the meantime, the story of Woo-yeon’s group project became known, causing Ga-ram and Seon-kyu to fly into a rage.
“It’s today, right?”
At Do-hyun’s question, Woo-yeon nodded while eating Tteokbokki. In fact, he had been losing sleep since last night because of the group project scheduled for the afternoon. Seeing Woo-yeon looking particularly tired, Ga-ram personally added sausages to his Tteokbokki.
“Did you memorize the script?”
“Yes, well, that’s……”
Woo-yeon trailed off and put down his paper cup. His slightly crumpled face looked more complicated than usual. Ga-ram and Seon-kyu, who were diligently eating Tteokbokki, looked at Woo-yeon with concern.
“But I don’t know if it’s okay to do this.”
Even while following Do-hyun’s suggestion, Woo-yeon felt a lingering discomfort he couldn’t erase. It wasn’t because his conscience was pricking him or because it was a shortcut; it was just that he felt like he was doing the same thing as Jun-seong. Of course, there was also anxiety about an action he was attempting for the first time.
“Hey, Woo-yeon. Why wouldn’t it be okay?”
“Right, it’s fine to do that.”
Ga-ram and Seon-kyu immediately countered Woo-yeon’s words. Seeing them worry and tell him he was too soft-hearted, Woo-yeon secretly swallowed a hollow laugh. Soft-hearted? That wasn’t really the reason.
“People like that don’t listen to words.”
Do-hyun spoke firmly and scooped some sausages into Woo-yeon’s paper cup. Holding the paper cup awkwardly, Woo-yeon glanced at Do-hyun. Do-hyun’s lips formed a neat arc.
“You have to act like a fox.”
Because Do-hyun was smiling exactly like a fox as he said that, Woo-yeon unconsciously felt his ears turn red. It was a smile so attractive that if Do-hyun were a nine-tailed fox and asked for his liver, he would want to take it out and give it to him personally.
“There’s nothing to worry about. It’ll be fine.”
Once again, a single word from Do-hyun erased his anxiety. Feeling his heart lighten, Woo-yeon answered quietly. ‘Yes.’ At that short answer, Do-hyun’s eyes curved as if cheering him on.
* * *
In the lecture hall, which he had arrived at a bit early, Jun-seong was already there. Sitting in the same place as last time, he twisted his lips crookedly as soon as he saw Woo-yeon. Woo-yeon put his bag down in a seat near the door and strode toward him.
“Kang Jun-seong.”
“Oh, you’re here?”
Jun-seong had an infuriatingly complacent face. Sitting arrogantly with his legs crossed, he looked up at Woo-yeon mockingly. His confident expression was not pleasant to see.
“What happened to the PPT?”
Woo-yeon went straight to the point. Although he had heard the story from a group member, he intended to pretend he didn’t know for now. At that, Jun-seong’s lips twitched with a displeased expression.
“Wow, this bastard is pretending not to know.”